We Only Have One Traffic Light In Town

Living in a small rural town has its advantages as well as its drawbacks. Until recently, riding a bicycle around here meant taking your life in your hands. It can be a challenge when there are few, if any bike lanes and most of the vehicle traffic are the big, loud, raised up redneck 4 wheel drive trucks.

I live out in the woods about 10 miles away from the huge metropolis of Warsaw, Missouri. The roads around here are almost all curvy two lane roads with no shoulders. It can be exciting if you're riding a bicycle because the folks around here don't quite understand why anyone would want to travel in a human powered vehicle.

Because we are slow and there no special lanes for us cyclists, we incur road rage from the people in their gas or diesel powered cars and trucks. The road rage varies from dirty looks to getting pelted with cans and bottles. Usually though we just normally get sign language. I've had friends who had hearing loss and use signing to communicate. I only learned one sign though – and I know it well.

A few years ago, one of our local residents, Mac Vorce, who is also a bicycle enthusiast petitioned for the development of bicycle paths and trails. He went to work for the city parks and recreation department so he could work on his agenda from within. Mac's strategy was successful because our area now boasts of a world-class mountain bike park and people come from all over to race in sanctioned events here. The countryside around this resort community is beautiful and the course has magnificent views of Truman Lake and is surrounding forest.

We have an old 1920's vintage swinging bridge that was part of the state highway into town. In the 1970's the department of transportation built a more modern bridge just a few meters away from the original bridge. The bridge was closed to auto traffic in 1979. It has since been a foot and bicycle trail spanning the Osage River arm of the Lake of the Ozarks. The bridge is currently closed to all traffic for repairs.

In 2013, the area added bicycle lanes near Warsaw to more safely accommodate the increased bicycle traffic in the area. The people in the 4-wheel drives seem to be more accommodating because the bike events bring in tourism to this small quaint town. Money does seem to grease the wheels of acceptance.

I live out in the woods because I don't like the fast pace of living in a town of almost 2,100 residents. Jeff Foxworthy, a comedian has a series of jokes about being a redneck. You may be familiar with them. One of his jokes describes where I live perfectly. The joke is:

'If directions to your house include the phrase turn off the paved road'

Well, that describes where I live perfectly. My house is one mile off the paved road, down a one lane cattle path. You almost need a 4-Wheel drive vehicle to get there. Yes, I have a 4WD truck. There are 6 houses back in this area and if you meet another car on that path, it is known as Rush Hour. Meeting another car is a big deal because it usually means someone has to back up, sometimes as much as a half-mile.

You may be asking yourself about the traffic light mentioned at the beginning of this article. Well, we are proud to have only one traffic light! Yes, it's true – just one.

Oh yeah, that's not just in the town – there's only one light in Benton County, Missouri.

So if you want to ride your bike in a community that has become cycle-friendly, be sure to stop by Truman Lake and visit the small town of Warsaw, Missouri.

Kali